‘Perfect ten’ Nadia pays surprise visit to games

AS the gymnastics, or gymfantastics as it has been re-named in the RDS Simmonscourt, continued yesterday, the arena got a surprise visit from one of the most famous gymnast Olympians.

Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian who captured the world’s imagination by scoring a perfect ten on the parallel bars in Montreal arrived in the late afternoon to enjoy the spectacle. Comaneci became famous for a exhibition of gymnastic perfection. But, it came at the price of her youth.

In her early teens, it was all about winning. Coaches separated her from the other young gymnasts who were simply attempting, failing and improving to attempt again. The attempt meant nothing if it didn’t culminate in victory.

Of course, for the next few days in venues across the country, it is all about the attempt. Some athletes stand out more than most. The spectators marvelled at the superb efforts of Evgeny Telkov, a young Russian, who starred in his division of artistic gymnastics. But, there was no more heart-warming applause for Evgeny than the attempt of minute Venezuelan athlete Maria Tamiche.

Eight-year-old Tamiche is probably one of the smallest competitors at these games, so small that some spectators had to stoop to spot her work on the floor.

But at the end of the set, the crowd roused the World Games cheer that the M.C. had been asking for all afternoon. Just as they had cheered her compatriot Jessica Torrealba. All the way from Venezuela, she is celebrating her birthday in Dublin tomorrow, celebrating it by becoming an Olympian.

This was a different world to the one that made Comaneci a star. After Hong Kong’s Shu Keng Fu performed two excellent vaults, his other competitors all high-fived him upon his return. Then there were smiling faces of his two Italian competitors, Giorgio Masullo, and Luca Gratti as they congratulated him on his wonderful performances. Something you are not likely to see in too many sporting events.

So, they didn’t win. It mattered little to Giorgio or Luca, or their coach Marco Marroni. They had spent four days in Killarney. There is no chill factor in Special Olympics athletes.

After her performance on the floor, Aine Naughton was a laughing, smiling example of that. The M.C. was telling everyone how happy she was, but there was no need for his prompting. It could be seen in her whole face, as she walked around the arena, waving to the crowd.

All the Irish gymnasts raced from the floor to hug their coaches and mentors. Niall Gillen, after a fine set in his division, punched the air with his fist before being ring-hugged by the Irish team. The inspiring stories weren’t confined to the floor.

Involved in the Gymnastics over the next few days will be American Megan McCormack, a hearing-impaired athlete. She was wearing a bracelet during her set, a gift from one of the volunteers who had raised money to bring Megan over through the Sponsor-the-Athlete programme. She raised more than the 1,000 needed, spending the surplus on Megan.

But, it is on the floor that most of the action will warm the heart. Even though Leonardo Lucania, another of the Italian gymnasts, missed some training to practice his role as flag-bearer in the Opening Ceremony, that won’t dull his enjoyment over the past few days of sporting celebration.

This is an event that everyone is equal, Stephanie Regis from Monaco and Mariya Rodkina from the Ukraine, American Kari Sutherland and Ana Ayala from El Salvador. Nobody left the floor a loser yesterday.